31. Horror caught in the Eyes

After four days of going through the forest, we reached the Gidian Plateau.

General Eis also quickly led his troops to catch up, and the group rejoined the field army I.

We were welcomed by a man named Certilian, Count of Gidiane, at the Quintila Castle.

This mysterious man's attitude was extremely unusual, he did not show any doubts or questions about the huge number of soldiers, nor did he show any precautions.

He didn't seem to care at all about the Holy Kingdom's already obvious war intentions.

Certilian personally received General Eis and us as his special guests.

The castle was designed with curved lines, decorated with statues of the Lieramus gods.

The thing that impressed me the most was probably the sculpture of an angel with two different face halves, placed in the center of the hall.

The statue was twice my size, cast from pure silver, with two pairs of wings, one extended back, the other closed to hide the statue's eyes.

"It's Voeu, the goddess of desire. In Lieramus, the goddess Voeu is also considered a symbol of land abundance."

General Eis explained about the statue, seemingly because of my curiosity.

The count replied with amusement.

"Precisely, the Voeu statue was ordered by the King himself to be cast and then sent to this land. As Earl of the region, I treasure it as a gift from the Holy Father."

Albert leaned into my ear and whispered.

"Come to think of it, I seem to have heard the name of this Earl somewhere…"

"Is he that famous?"

Marquis Ress and us stayed downstairs, while the Earl and General went upstairs to talk.

Lustre was still hiding behind me, staring at the Marquis and growling like a small animal. Maybe it's the demonic instincts left in her.

But why Ress? Lustre's strange feelings only happen around him.

Ress also seemed to know the unusual attitude of the girl towards him and actively approached her.

I stretched out my hand to block his way.

"What are you trying to do?"

He smiled and looked at Lustre.

"Solve a little misunderstanding if there is one. That's all, you don't have to worry."

Later that night, because of being under heavy guard, General Eis instructed us to closely monitor Certilian's every move.

I snuck out of the room, but strangely only the General's room upstairs was guarded.

The soldiers camped outside, since the castle was located in the middle of a large plateau, we didn't have any trouble gathering our troops.

The generals outside are also ready to knock down the citadel in case the General's life is threatened.

We are allowed to send people to visit the General as often as we want.

It seems to feel more like a stopover than the castle of another kingdom.

"Cecile… Cecile Scottfield. The third daughter of the Scottfield family, who would soon become a Saintess Zerciel. Am I right?"

Certilian stood in the hall, looking at the statue of the goddess Voeu, surrounded by red light of the candles reflected on the walls.

I walked slowly down the hall, opposite Certilian.

"How did you know about my identity, and also about the ritual? I certainly didn't introduce my real name…"

My eyes flickered to his face.

Pieces of skin peeled off, dripping down like candle wax, irises turned to me. Tears spilled out into the mess on that terrified face.

I clutched my mouth from screaming.

The image captured in my eyes blurred like a nightmare, then suddenly a woman's scream rang out.

The sound of gunfire, from the large door, the figure of a man running towards Certilian.

Certilian hugged the bullet-hit arm, trying to touch the statue's hand.

The man running over shouted, was the voice of Marquis Ress.

"Cecile, stop him quickly! Don't let him touch the statue!"

I fumbled with the gun Albert gave me, aimed it at Certilian's hand.

The marquis shot him again, but I wasn't as lucky.

The bullet hit Certilian in the leg, and he leaned toward the statue and caught the statue's hand.

A dazzling light radiated from the god statue, instantly filling the main hall.

I screamed in pain, clutching my eyes as if they were on fire.

"Ress! Marquis Ress! What's going on…"

A hand gripped my arm tightly, and then, feeling my heartbeat weaken, I soon lost consciousness.